Drive Towards a Better Future in the Cebu Auto Show 2025!

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

Cebu City, Philippines - Worldbex Services International (WSI) is gearing up for its much-awaited return to the Queen City of the South this coming September, bringing its Premier events experience to the Central Visayas region. Among these premier events is one that showcases innovation and excellence found in the local automotive industry. The Cebu Auto Show (CAS) is an extension of the annual Manila International Auto Show (MIAS), the leading premier automotive event organized by WSI, which highlights the industry’s constant push for innovation and style through the automobiles we have today.

For 13 years, CAS has integrated deeply into the Cebuano culture while serving as the platform for car brands to extend their reach to other parts of the Philippines. Cebu shows promise of further developing its road development and management plans, with the City Planning and Development Office of Cebu City leading the helm for better road safety and management. As Cebu continues to develop its roads to accommodate more vehicles, the city has also proven to have the drive to sustain its plans for better roads and vehicles.

This year, the Cebu Auto Show is back with CAS 2025, carrying the theme of “Driven by Connection”. With a platform as big as CAS, visitors are bound to experience the thrill it has to offer and find a similar vibe to MIAS. Last year, we welcomed more than 35,000 visitors to see the thrilling side of Cebu, showcasing the latest car models, supercars, and the ever-expanding and unique Die-Cast car collection. This 2025 sees CAS aim higher than before, inviting even more recognizable brands and exhibitors to further attract people to the event, such as Autoglobal, BAIC, Bestune, BYD, Changan, Ford, FUSO, Foton, GWM, Hyundai, JMC, QSJ, TJ Motors Venture, and XC. With its flexibility and speed, Cebuanos will be thrilled to see many of them that are displayed in the main hall. Lastly, with the rise of electric vehicles and sustainable energy, CAS wants to shine a spotlight on eco-friendly cars and the potential it has in Cebu. In line with this, the city of Cebu also plans to accommodate e-cars by developing ways to improve the EV ecosystem, such as creating new and more accessible charging stations all around the city.

The excitement is ramping up as we gear up for the Cebu Auto Show 2025. Be driven by connections right here in Cebu and experience the best auto show in the whole region. CAS 2025 is happening from September 11 to 14, 2025, at the IEC Convention Center Cebu (IC3), starting from 10 AM to 7 PM. You may register for free at cebuautoshow.com or follow the official Facebook page for more info and news. CAS 2025 is organized by Worldbex Services International.

From Soil to Sea: Philippines to Host Asia’s Largest Sustainable Gastronomy Event with Terra Madre Asia & Pacific 2025

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

The Philippines is about to take center stage in the global movement for food sustainability as it plays host to the first-ever Terra Madre Asia & Pacific (TMAP) — the largest sustainable gastronomy event in the region — set to unfold in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, from November 19 to 23, 2025.

For five transformative days, the Provincial Capitol Lagoon will be transformed into a living stage of biodiversity, heritage, and innovation under the theme “From Soil to Sea: A Slow Food Journey Through Tastes and Traditions.” The event promises to gather 2,000 delegates from over 20 countries — farmers, fishers, indigenous leaders, chefs, academics, youth, and cultural advocates — all united by one mission: to reimagine food systems that are sustainable, just, and deeply rooted in tradition.

A Defining Moment for Asia and the Pacific

For decades, Terra Madre Salone del Gusto in Turin, Italy, has stood as one of the world’s most influential platforms on food sovereignty and biodiversity. Now, with its regional debut in Asia and the Pacific, the Philippines takes a pivotal role in shaping the global conversation.

“This is a turning point not just for Slow Food in the Philippines, but for the entire region,” said Ramon “Chin Chin” Uy Jr., Slow Food Councilor for Southeast Asia. “Terra Madre Asia & Pacific is a space where grassroots wisdom can shape policy, tradition can spark innovation, and the lived experiences of communities take their rightful place in shaping our global food future.”

Paolo Di Croce, General Director of Slow Food, emphasized the milestone’s significance: “This gathering celebrates the shared products and traditions that unite Asian and Pacific communities, while showing how food can connect people, pass on knowledge, inspire solutions, and safeguard the planet for future generations.”

Starting with Bacolod in 2025, TMAP will be held every two years, positioning the Philippines as the Slow Food Hub for Asia and the Pacific and reinforcing Negros Occidental’s title as the Organic Capital of the Philippines.

A Feast of Culture, Biodiversity, and Ideas

The event will immerse visitors in thematic spaces showcasing the diversity of Asia-Pacific food cultures:

Foodways Exhibition spotlighting four iconic staples — rice, spices, soy, and taro — that define regional identities.

Education Pavilion for children and adults, bridging biodiversity with taste education.

Slow Food Coffee Coalition tracing the bean’s journey from farm to cup.

House of Slow Food introducing visitors to the philosophy and global initiatives of Slow Food.

Public Talks and Conferences addressing climate resilience, food justice, and sustainability.

Terra Madre Kitchen and Taste Workshops with chef collaborations and guided tastings.

Slow Drinks, Market, and Street Food featuring artisanal products, heritage ingredients from the Ark of Taste, and regional delicacies like batuan, criollo cacao, artisanal muscovado sugar, and Negros’ traditional salts.

Community Kitchen, where all 61 barangays of Bacolod will share their dishes, weaving a tapestry of flavors that represents collective heritage.

A Stellar Culinary Line-up

Food lovers can expect a once-in-a-lifetime culinary showcase from an impressive roster of internationally acclaimed chefs and mixologists. The line-up includes Asia’s Best Female Chef 2023 Johanne Siy, Michelin Green Star chefs like Wes Kuo and Lordfer Lalicon, culinary icons like William Wongso, and homegrown stars like Jordy Navarra, Chele González, and Don Patrick Baldosano.

The bar scene will be equally trailblazing, with world-class mixologists such as Agung Prabowo (Hong Kong/Indonesia), Sasha Wijidessa (Singapore/Denmark), and the Philippines’ own Kalel “Liquido Maestro” Demetrio elevating local spirits and indigenous ingredients to global acclaim.

Collaboration Beyond Borders

TMAP 2025 is not just a food festival — it is a convergence of governments, institutions, and communities. It is made possible through the City Government of Bacolod, the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, the Department of Tourism, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Trade and Industry, TESDA, and congressional champions like Albee Benitez and Javi Benitez, alongside long-time Slow Food advocates like Senator Loren Legarda.

The event’s identity, designed by illustrator Dan Matutina, draws inspiration from archipelagic landscapes and handcrafted clay forms — symbolic of resilience, biodiversity, and interconnectedness.

Why It Matters

At its heart, Terra Madre Asia & Pacific is a call to action. It reminds us that food is more than sustenance — it is culture, memory, resistance, and hope. By gathering Asia-Pacific’s finest minds and hands in Bacolod, the Philippines is not just hosting an event; it is staking its claim as a leader in sustainable gastronomy.

As the world faces climate disruption, loss of biodiversity, and food insecurity, TMAP 2025 will demonstrate how from soil to sea, tradition and innovation can coexist, and how communities can reclaim their right to good, clean, and fair food.

How to Join

Delegate applications can be sent to nichole@slowfoodnegros.com, while sponsorship inquiries may be directed to frauline@slowfoodnegros.com. More details are available at terramadreasiapacific.com.

The Unthinkable Protest: Withholding the Lifeblood of a Broken Government

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

There comes a time in the history of every nation when silence becomes betrayal—not only to oneself, but to generations yet to come. Perhaps that time has arrived for us. Perhaps the unthinkable is no longer just a desperate whisper in hushed conversations but a call that must thunder across the land: to halt the lifeblood of a government that has long bled its people dry.

Why, after all, should we continue to fund a system that has repeatedly betrayed us? Why should our hard-earned money—wrung from our sweat, our long commutes, our sleepless nights—be poured into the pockets of officials who have mastered the art of corruption? Why should we allow inefficiency, incompetence, and deception to thrive on the very coins we surrender under the name of duty?

We have been told since childhood that taxes are the backbone of society—that they build schools, pave roads, provide health care, and ensure security. But reality mocks us at every corner. Roads crumble while pockets swell. Schools rot while mansions rise. Hospitals lack medicine while offshore accounts overflow. Each peso we give becomes less a contribution to progress and more a ransom paid to those who hold the nation hostage.

The Powerless Contributors

The tragedy is that this betrayal is not voluntary. Taxes are not contributions given with consent but obligations extracted by force. They are stripped from our salaries before they even reach our hands. They are hidden within every product we purchase, every service we pay for, and every transaction we make. They are buried in the fine print of our daily existence, leaving us powerless to resist.

We are trapped in a cycle where the government feeds on our labor while silencing our voice. Our supposed power as citizens—to demand accountability, to insist on transparency—is undermined by a machinery designed to take first and answer questions never. We do not fund progress. We fund our own suffering.

The Silent Rebellion

And so the idea emerges—radical, dangerous, yet undeniably powerful: What if we stopped?

What if, collectively, we withheld the lifeblood of this system? What if, for once, the people refused to bankroll their own betrayal? A government that thrives on corruption cannot survive without our money. A machinery that has forgotten its duty cannot move without fuel. And the greatest statement we could ever make may not be shouted in rallies or written on placards, but whispered through silence—the silence of unpaid taxes, the silence of withheld obedience.

But is this possible? And more importantly, is it legal?

Turning Defiance Into Lawful Resistance

Direct tax refusal invites swift punishment. But there are lawful, strategic, and organized ways by which citizens can push back without immediately falling into the state’s trap.

Demand Participatory Budgeting

Citizens can push for participatory budgeting laws in local governments—forcing transparency by ensuring communities decide where their taxes go. Until this happens, local leaders will know that people are ready to mount more aggressive forms of protest.

Redirect Taxes Legally Through Cooperatives and Trusts

Some nations allow tax credits or deductions for contributions to cooperatives, accredited charities, or green initiatives. By strengthening people’s cooperatives, NGOs, and civil society groups, we can legally channel portions of taxes away from corrupt hands and toward community projects.

Invoke the Right to Audit

Citizens’ groups, with the help of lawyers and auditors, can file for the right to inspect government spending. Freedom of Information (FOI) mechanisms, though often underutilized, give people a legal foothold. If corruption is exposed, the people can demand suspension of certain tax collections until misuse is addressed.

Legal Tax Protests & Class Action Suits

If certain taxes are proven unconstitutional, discriminatory, or misappropriated, citizens can launch class action suits. This halts collection not through street protest but through the courts, turning resistance into lawful defiance.

Mass Civil Society Campaigns for Tax Holidays

Citizens can rally around proposals to suspend or reduce taxes in times of national crisis—something governments themselves sometimes legislate. A coordinated push for a tax moratorium until corruption cases are resolved can pressure legislators to act.

Exploiting Legal Loopholes

While direct refusal is illegal, tax minimization through legal exemptions and deductions is not. If millions of citizens learn to exploit every possible deduction, incentive, and loophole, the government’s tax intake can dramatically drop—lawfully.

The Price of Courage

Of course, even lawful resistance invites risk. The state does not take kindly to defiance. To starve a corrupt system of its lifeblood is to invite retaliation—penalties, harassment, even imprisonment. Yet, what is the greater prison? To live shackled by fear, paying endlessly into a system that robs us blind? Or to reclaim dignity through sacrifice, knowing that the fight for justice is never won by the timid but by the brave?

History tells us that revolutions are not always loud. Some begin in silence. Some begin not with swords but with refusal—withdrawing obedience, withdrawing compliance, withdrawing the resources that keep tyranny afloat.

A Choice Before Us

The question is no longer whether the government deserves our taxes. It is whether we still consent to suffering. Whether we, the people, will continue to accept being powerless contributors to our own exploitation—or whether we will rise, not with violence, but with the most dangerous weapon of all: a collective "No."

Perhaps the time has come. Perhaps the unthinkable is now the inevitable. Perhaps the most patriotic act left to us is not to give, but to withhold—until accountability is restored, until justice is done, until the nation we love is no longer an open wound but a healed promise.

For in the end, it is not the government that owns the lifeblood of this nation. It is us, the people. And when we decide to stop bleeding—lawfully, strategically, and collectively—the system will have no choice but to listen.